Resume format guide: layouts, examples and formatting rules

For most people, the best resume format is reverse-chronological: your most recent job first, in one clean column, with standard headings, 10–11.5 pt body text and normal margins, on one page (two for longer careers). A good format lets a recruiter find your last job, your skills and your contact details in about ten seconds.

Below you'll find the three main formats and who each one suits, section order for different situations, layout rules, a copyable skeleton of each format, and how a US resume differs from a UK or international CV.

The three resume formats

Reverse-chronological (the default)

Reverse-chronological (most recent job first) is the default. Recruiters expect it and applicant tracking systems read it best. Use it unless you have a strong reason not to.

• Suits: almost everyone with a steady work history, especially if you're staying in the same field or moving up in it.
• Drawbacks: it puts gaps and short jobs in plain view, and if you're changing careers, your most relevant skills may be buried under unrelated job titles.

Functional (skills-based)

A functional resume groups your experience under skill headings ("Customer service", "Team leadership") and lists jobs briefly, or not at all, at the bottom.

• Suits: very few people, honestly. It's sometimes suggested for long gaps or very scattered work histories.
• Drawbacks: many recruiters distrust it because it can look like you're hiding something. It's also harder for tracking systems to connect your skills to actual jobs and dates. If you're tempted by it, a combination format usually does the same job better.

Combination (hybrid)

A skills-first layout (skills and a summary up top, short job list below) can help career changers or people returning after a long gap. Keep the dates in, though; leaving them out looks like you're hiding something.

• Suits: career changers, people returning to work, military-to-civilian moves, and anyone whose strongest skills came from more than one job.
• Drawbacks: it takes more space, and the skills section can end up repeating your bullets. Keep the skills summary to three or four strong points with evidence.

Format	Best for	Main risk
Reverse-chronological	Most people	Shows gaps clearly
Functional	Rarely the best choice	Looks evasive; parses poorly
Combination	Career changers, returners	Can get long and repetitive

Resume format examples: copyable skeletons

Use these as outlines. The example people are fictional.

Reverse-chronological resume format

MARIA LOPEZ
Austin, TX | (512) 555-0147 | maria.lopez@email.com

SUMMARY
Friendly, fast-paced server with 4 years in busy full-service
restaurants. Known for upselling, accurate orders and calm service
during rushes.

EXPERIENCE
Server, Riverside Diner, Austin, TX            Jun 2023 – Present
- Serve 8–10 tables per shift in a 120-seat restaurant
- Train new servers on the POS system and menu
- Raised dessert sales by suggesting pairings with each order

Host / Server, Oak Street Grill, Austin, TX    Mar 2021 – May 2023
- Seated guests and managed the waitlist on busy weekends
- Promoted to server after 6 months

EDUCATION
High School Diploma, Lakeview High School, Austin, TX       2020

SKILLS
Table service, POS systems, Upselling, Cash handling, Food safety,
Spanish (fluent)

CERTIFICATIONS
Texas Food Handler Card | TABC Seller-Server Certification

Combination (hybrid) resume format

DANIEL REED
Columbus, OH | (614) 555-0193 | daniel.reed@email.com

SUMMARY
Retail shift supervisor moving into office administration. Six years
of scheduling, cash reconciliation and customer problem-solving.

KEY SKILLS
- Scheduling: built weekly schedules for a team of 12
- Records and reporting: reconciled daily takings and stock reports
- Customer support: handled escalated complaints by phone and email
- Software: Excel, Google Sheets, Outlook, Square

EXPERIENCE
Shift Supervisor, Corner Hardware, Columbus, OH  Apr 2020 – Present
- Plan staff schedules and cover absences
- Reconcile tills and prepare end-of-day reports

Sales Associate, Corner Hardware, Columbus, OH   Aug 2018 – Mar 2020

EDUCATION
Certificate in Office Administration, Columbus State (in progress)

Functional resume format

NAME
City, State | Phone | Email

SUMMARY

SKILLS AND ACHIEVEMENTS
Customer service
- Achievement with evidence
Organization
- Achievement with evidence

WORK HISTORY
Job title, Employer, City                          Dates
Job title, Employer, City                          Dates

EDUCATION

If you use the functional layout, keep the work history with dates, as shown. A functional resume with no dates is the version recruiters most distrust.

Sections, in order

1. Contact details: name, phone, email, city and state (or town, for UK CVs). Add LinkedIn if it's up to date. No full street address needed.
2. Summary: two or three sentences on who you are, your strongest skills and what you're looking for. UK CVs call this a personal statement.
3. Experience: job title, employer, location, dates, then three to six bullet points per role. Start each bullet with a verb and include a number where you can.
4. Education: qualification, school, and year. Put this above Experience if you're a student or recent graduate.
5. Skills: eight to fifteen relevant skills, written as words.
6. Optional: certifications, languages, volunteering, projects, awards.

Section order for different situations

• Student or recent graduate: Contact, Summary, Education, Experience (including part-time work, volunteering and projects), Skills. See how to write a resume with no experience.
• Experienced worker: Contact, Summary, Experience, Skills, Education. Education moves to the bottom and shrinks to one line.
• Career changer: Contact, Summary, Key Skills, Experience, Education and training. Put any new course or certificate for the target field near the top.
• Returning after a gap: Contact, Summary, Experience (with a one-line explanation of the gap, such as "Career break: full-time caregiver, 2022–2024"), Skills, recent training.
• Licensed trades, security, healthcare, driving: Contact, Summary, Licenses and certifications, Experience, Skills. When a license is a legal requirement, show it near the top.

Resume layout rules: fonts, margins, headings and dates

Fonts and sizes

• Use one clear font for body text, such as Inter, Lato, Source Sans or a serif like Lora. A second font for headings is fine.
• Body text at 10–11.5 pt; your name at 22–30 pt.
• Section headings a point or two larger than body text, or the same size in bold or capitals. Be consistent.
• Use bold for job titles, not whole sentences. Avoid underlining, except for links.

Margins and white space

• Margins of 12–25 mm (about 0.5–1 inch) on every side.
• Leave space between sections. A packed page is harder to read than a slightly longer one.
• Keep a little extra space above each job so the eye can find where one ends and the next begins.

Headings

Use standard names: Summary, Experience, Education, Skills, Certifications. They're what recruiters scan for and what tracking systems recognize. Creative labels like "My story" make both work harder.

Dates and alignment

• Put dates on the same line as the job title, aligned to the right margin, so the reader can scan down them.
• Use one style everywhere: "Jun 2023 – Present" or "06/2023 – Present". Months and years are standard; years only can work for older roles if you're consistent.
• Left-align body text. Justified text creates uneven gaps between words.

Bullets

Use simple round bullets, start each with a verb, and keep most to one or two lines. Three to six per recent job is plenty.

One column or two? The best resume layout

One column is the safest choice for online applications. It reads top to bottom in a predictable order, prints well and parses cleanly in applicant tracking systems.

Two columns put contact details and skills in a sidebar and can fit more on a page. They look modern and work well for emailing, printing or handing over in person. The trade-off is that some tracking systems read straight across both columns and scramble your text.

A practical approach: use a one-column layout when uploading to career sites, and keep a two-column design for direct emails and networking. If you only want one version, test it first; the ATS-friendly resume guide explains how. You can browse both styles in the resume templates gallery and switch between them without retyping.

How long should it be?

• One page if you have under about ten years of experience, or are applying for hourly and entry-level roles.
• Two pages for longer careers, senior roles, healthcare and teaching, where licenses and placements add up.
• UK CVs are commonly two pages. Academic CVs can be longer.

See how to fit your resume on one page.

US resume vs UK CV vs international CV

	US resume	UK CV
Paper	US Letter	A4
Opening	Summary	Personal statement
Photo	No	No (except some creative roles)
Date of birth	Never	Not needed
Length	Usually 1 page	Usually 2 pages
Spelling	US (organize, license)	UK (organise, licence)
Dates	Mar 2024	Mar 2024 or 03/2024

Elsewhere, conventions vary. Canada broadly follows US resume norms; Ireland, Australia and New Zealand are closer to the UK CV. In parts of continental Europe, such as Germany, a photo and personal details have traditionally been more common, though many employers no longer expect them. When applying abroad, follow the job ad first, then local examples. Our CV examples show UK-style layouts.

HiredResumeAI switches paper size, headings and date style when you pick Resume (US) or CV (UK/Intl), so you can keep one set of content and export both.

Save it right: file type and file naming

Send a PDF unless the employer asks for Word. Name the file with your name and the role, for example Maria-Lopez-Server-Resume.pdf.

• Good: Daniel-Reed-Office-Administrator-Resume.pdf, Priya-Shah-CV.pdf
• Avoid: resume.pdf, CV_final_v3_NEW.docx, Document1.pdf

A clear file name helps a recruiter find your resume among dozens in a folder or inbox. Avoid spaces and special characters, and keep it to your name, the role and the document type.

Resume format checklist

• Reverse-chronological, or combination if you're changing careers
• Sections in the right order for your situation
• Standard headings: Summary, Experience, Education, Skills
• One body font at 10–11.5 pt; name at 22–30 pt
• Margins between 0.5 and 1 inch (12–25 mm)
• Dates in one format, aligned on the right
• One column for online applications, or a tested two-column design
• Right length: one page early career, two for long careers or UK CVs
• US Letter for US resumes, A4 for UK CVs
• Saved as PDF with a clear file name

Frequently asked questions

What is the best resume format?

For most people, reverse-chronological is the best resume format: most recent job first, in one clean column with standard headings. Recruiters expect it and tracking systems read it reliably. Career changers and people returning after a gap often do better with a combination format that adds a short skills section at the top.

Is a functional resume a good idea?

Usually not. Many recruiters see a functional resume as a way to hide gaps or a lack of experience, and tracking systems find it harder to link skills to jobs and dates. A combination format gives you the same skills-first opening while keeping a clear, dated work history.

What font and size should I use on my resume?

Choose one clean, readable font such as Inter, Lato, Source Sans or Lora, and set body text between 10 and 11.5 pt. Headings can be slightly larger or bold, and your name can be 22–30 pt. Avoid decorative fonts and anything under 10 pt.

Should my resume have one or two columns?

One column is the safer choice for online applications because tracking systems read it in the right order. Two-column layouts look modern and suit emailing or printing, but some systems scramble them. If you use two columns, test the text order before uploading it to a career site.

What's the difference between a resume and a CV?

In the US, a resume is a short, targeted summary of your experience, usually one page, while a CV is a longer academic record. In the UK and many other countries, "CV" is simply the everyday word for a resume, usually two pages of A4 and opening with a personal statement.